Nelson: Engage Syria to help stabilize Iraq

January 31, 2007|By William E. Gibson, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

WASHINGTON -- While Congress prepares to assert more influence over U.S. policy in the Middle East, Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida on Tuesday called for aggressive diplomacy to engage Syria and possibly Iran to stabilize war-torn Iraq.

Nelson said most senators oppose President Bush's plan to send 21,500 more troops into Iraq and that the public is demanding alternatives.

"An international effort to stabilize Iraq must include all of Iraq's neighbors, including Iran," Nelson, a Democrat, told the Council on Foreign Relations, a group of foreign-policy experts. He also called for an international reconstruction program in Iraq, paid in part by foreign donors.

Nelson's bold assertions, six weeks after his controversial meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad, reflect congressional impatience with Bush's policies and a growing willingness to rebuke the commander in chief.

Nelson's assertions sparked a backlash from some of his constituents in Florida, home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the world.

Some Jewish leaders remain wary of negotiating with Syria, which they consider a potential threat to Israel. They tend to side with the administration.

"We would support the U.S. policy that Syria cannot be engaged until it stops supporting and hosting terrorist organizations," said Danielle Levin of Plantation, executive director of the Palm Beach County chapter of the American Jewish Committee.

The Bush administration, which chided Nelson for meeting with Assad, has accused Syria of supporting what it considers terrorist groups, including Iraqi insurgents and Hamas.

Asked about such concerns, particularly from the Jewish community, Nelson asserted: "Regardless of one's ethnic background, people want progress in Iraq. They want to see Iraq stabilized."

Many Republicans are conflicted over Bush's policies, but some party leaders seized the opportunity to accuse Nelson and some other Democrats of undermining U.S. interests.

"All Syria wants is return of the Golan Heights," said Sid Dinerstein, chairman of the Palm Beach County Republican Party. "This is Nelson's symbolic sellout of Israel."

Meanwhile, an Arab-American leader on Tuesday saluted attempts by members of Congress to open a dialogue with Iraq's neighbors.

"We risk a perpetuation of the conflict, and even an expansion of the conflict, by not pursuing diplomacy," said James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute in Washington.